| Popis: |
In Tanzania, some districts have single and others have multiple vitamin A (VA) interventions. There is limited information on total liver VA reserves (TLRs) among preschool children (PSC) in Tanzania.We assessed total body VA stores (TBSs) and TLRs among PSC living in two districts with Low- and High-exposure to VA interventions using 13C-retinol isotope dilution.A cross-sectional health facility-based study was conducted in two districts with access to VA supplementation only (Low-exposure) or multiple interventions (High-exposure) to determine TLRs in 120 PSC aged 36-59 mo. A questionnaire was used to collect data. Height and weight were measured and the prevalence of undernutrition was based on Z-scores. Blood samples were collected for measurement of TBSs, TLRs, retinol, biomarkers of infection/inflammation, and hemoglobin. 13C2-retinyl acetate (1.0 µmol) was administered to each child after blood collection and the second sample was taken 14 d later. Serum was analyzed with HPLC and gas chromatography-combustion-isotope ratio mass spectrometry. Mann-Whitney U test was used to compare medians of non-normally distributed variables. Pearson χ2 test was used to assess associations between two categorical variables.Median [interquartile range (IQR)] TBSs differed between PSC from Low-exposure [196 (120.) µmol] and High-exposure [231 (162) µmol] intervention areas (P = 0.015). Median (IQR) TLRs were 0.23 (0.14) and 0.26 (0.16) μmol/g liver from Low- and High-exposure areas, respectively, which did not differ (P = 0.12). Prevalence of VAD (≤0.1 µmol/g liver) was 6.3% and 1.7% for PSC from Low- and High-exposure areas, respectively. There was no difference in VAD (P = 0.25). No child had hypervitaminosis A (≥1.0 µmol/g liver).TLRs in Tanzanian PSC from two districts did not differ between Low- and High-exposure to VA interventions. The majority had adequate VA stores. VAD in the study area presented a mild public health problem. |
